Halcyon Days
by Isis Lied
Summary: AU As a simple bureau investigator, Hideyoshi Nagachika spent most of his time inside the safe walls of the CCG's 20th Ward Branch Office—that is until a certain eyepatched ghoul saves him from being eaten alive. Loyalties are strained as the detective is sent on a case to uncover the identity of the mysterious ghoul. Eventual Hidekane.
1. Chapter 1- The Greatest Irony

Halcyon Days

AU As a simple bureau investigator, Hideyoshi Nagachika spent most of his time inside the safe walls of the CCG's 20th Ward Branch Office—that is until a certain eyepatched ghoul saves him from being eaten alive. Loyalties are strained as the detective is sent on a case to uncover the identity of the mysterious ghoul. Eventual Hidekane.

a/n: I have a lot of ships in tg and I'm honestly surprised I haven't written a fic for these dorks yet ^^' so yeah… I had this idea for a while now and needed to write it down. also, bc I'm in uni updates will be sporadic so apologies again for starting another fic when I have so many uncompleted ones ;-;

disclaimer: the angst-filled drama known as Tokyo ghoul does not belong to me, but to the brilliant Ishida Sui.

warnings: uh triggers for the usual: gore, language, cannibalism, the usual really in the tg universe. oh, Hide and Kaneki may be a bit ooc, but it's only due to them never meeting; this is how I interpret the characters to be like if they had never met till they were older, thus why Kaneki is colder and Hide comes off as being more withdrawn/lonely.

* * *

Chapter 1- The Greatest Irony

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Flipping leisurely through the catalogue, Hideyoshi Nagachika propped his legs up on the desk, humming to himself. It was Friday evening and most of the other paper-pushers had already left. The blond sighed, dropping the magazine and interlacing his fingers behind his head. He had promised some of his coworkers that he'd finish up the reports and then head home, but something kept him in his chair even after the minuscule task was taken care of.

Closing his eyes, Hide thought back to what had drawn him to join the CCG in the first place. Fresh out of high school and without any real plan in mind, he took an aptitude test for admission into the CCG Academy at the behest of one of his teachers. With his keen insight and natural investigative skills, he scored very well on the exam, and, a few weeks later was allowed admission into the Academy.

"So much for the dream…" The blond mumbled to himself, finally uprooting himself from the comfortable office chair. It groaned against the sudden loss of weight as he stretched out his arms, giving a great yawn. While he had great aptitude, his scores were another hindrance entirely. Particularly, the ghoul biology classes, which were core to becoming an investigator, made almost no sense to the boy. After failing two courses, the blond dropped out and enrolled into the Ghoul Countermeasure Training Center.

As a bureau investigator, unlike a ghoul investigator, Hide would never be able to handle a quinque. Instead, his job relied mostly on paperwork and reports, though the occasional field mission did occur. It was a much safer job, paid roughly the same as a ghoul investigator, and had better hours. For Hide, it had been a much better alternative than immediately ending up as a snack on his first mission. And, of course, the best perk: it didn't test his morals in the slightest. Human or ghoul, the blond didn't care; unless he or those close to him were in immediate danger, he was more inclined to ignore the presence of a ghoul than report suspicious activity—the sort of behavior which kept him at the very lowest investigator rank. His motivation lied in solving mysteries, not hacking apart ghouls who may have families or loved ones. If only the higher-ups knew that his loyalties were so thin… such thoughts would be considered treason by many, but the blond shrugged it off. It didn't matter, not when he was tied to an office desk most of the time.

Hide had considered working for the CCG because he wanted to be a hero. Plain and simple. All his life he had been the boisterous, loud-mouthed, eccentric kid who no one expected much of. He kept to himself, relied on no one, and kept an extroverted, slightly unmanageable demeanor which both drew people in, but kept them at a safe distance.

Or, at least, proving to himself and others that he could amount to something—to someone important, was what had drawn him to the CCG. But, the longer he worked within the branch the easier it became to see the flaws and breaks in his superiors' facades.

They were arrogant, power hungry, and saw bureau investigators as ghoul fodder. At times, it felt as if Hide were nothing to them but some wiggling imago, prematurely shaken from its chrysalis in rivulets of blood and amniotic fluid—just another _insect_ to be smashed underfoot when he outgrew his usefulness. They didn't care if hundreds of investigators were slaughtered if there were more people to take their place.

 _Such hypocrites… they call ghouls monsters but they're perfectly fine with letting good people die if it means we're one step closer to eliminating the ghoul species._

Turning off his computer monitor, the blond hopped from his desk, a spring in his step as he patted his cheeks in an attempt to rid himself of such negative thoughts. _No, bad Hide! It's Friday! That means you're free from this hell hole. Enjoy the freedom!_

* * *

Up above the blinking lights of Tokyo's 20th ward, Kaneki Ken watched his city with keen eyes, red kagune rippling from his battle suit. Pulling his signature mask from his pants pocket, the ghoul allowed for his one right eye to turn pitch-black, iris a heavy crimson. Wisps of white locks fanned across his forehead at the sudden gusts of wind before he disappeared, plummeting to the ground from the top of the abandoned skyscraper in a single swoop.

The ward had been relatively peaceful for the past year, but slowly, more and more ghouls without any regard for others had been popping in and out, causing havoc to rock the city. It had made the Doves hover over the area, endangering those he cared deeply about.

 _My only family… those at Anteiku. I will not let them be hurt by other ghoul's careless mistakes._

Acting as a mercenary of sorts, the newly-made half-ghoul spent most of his time exterminating ghouls who caused too much trouble for the ward. It had been an easy way to distract himself from the encroaching hunger which had seemingly seeped into his bones.

Oh, he had eaten his fair share of ghouls, but something still caused a dark rumbling in his gut. He kept himself away from the general populace for the most part, in fear of losing control, in fear that the pleasant warmness of limbs, slick blood, and crunching bones of a human would make it impossible for him to eat another disgusting ghoul again.

 _Just one bite…_ A voice in his head echoed mockingly as his feet hit the empty street, the scent of a bleeding human in the air. Kaneki could pick out the voice of a man—yelping helplessly, giving petty bargains to whatever monster had cornered him in an alleyway. With it came the scent of sunflowers and liquid sunshine, such an earthy and summertime scent that the white-haired ghoul had never smelled before. It was the most delicious scent to ever cross his senses and before he knew it, his feet had dragged him to the alleyway.

Blinking, the half-ghoul's gaze traveled from the apparently unconscious human sprawled on the ground to the two ghouls who had been arguing on what body parts they were claiming as their own.

At his heavy footsteps the two ghouls turned, snarls emanating from their lips.

"He's ours! Find your own meal, brat!" The first ghoul muttered, bikaku-type kagune slithering around his leg.

"Yeah! Do you know how hard it is to eat in the 20th ward? The fucking Doves are everywhere—in fact," He paused, crouching over to the unconscious man and pulling his head up by tugging on his hair, "we saw this guy here walking out of the CCG building!"

It was for a brief moment, but the half-ghoul was able to see the face of the boy clearly even with the ever approaching darkness of night, making out a light dusting of freckles which dotted the bridge of his nose and under his eyes. Even his appearance reminded him of sunflowers— or something even brighter, like the sun.

It was then that Kaneki spoke, kagune pointing dangerously at the two ghouls unfortunate enough to cross his path. "Look, I've seen you two before. You've got to stop recklessly feeding. You're endangering the lives of every ghoul in this ward. I'll give you a warning this time, but leave the boy alone."

 _He's mine,_ Kaneki's brain supplied, already feeling himself salivating. The gnawing pain of hunger was forming in the way his gums ached, the pressure in his throat and teeth causing him to bite against his own tongue to relieve himself and sucking on the blood that followed.

 _No! Stop that! You were human once, remember?_ His hands shook at the thought, vision hazy as he felt something inside of him break.

 _Not human. Not anymore—never again._

Just as his skewered conscious returns, he sees the two ghouls muttering to each other, grimaces plain on their faces. They were attempting to whisper, but with all his cannibalizing, Kaneki's hearing had increased ten-fold.

"…I think we could take him."

"No, did you see that look in his eyes? He's bat-shit insane!" The other ghoul said a little too loudly, causing the latter to slap him upside the head and hiss at him to keep his voice down.

After a few more minutes of 'deliberating' the pair slinked away, eyeing the white-haired boy with both malice and fear. They disappeared as soon as they hit the junction between the street and alleyway, hopping building after building in search of another meal.

It was when Kaneki could no longer smell them that he allowed for his angry façade to slip, crouching down beside the pale human. Shallow breaths escaped his cracked lips as he was carefully rolled onto his back. Kaneki sucked in a gasp at the bruise forming above his right eyebrow, a monstrous bluish-violet that marred his otherwise porcelain skin. Blood pooled from a wound above his hairline, dripping in tandem against the rough asphalt.

 _Drip. Drip._ Folding his kagune into his lower back, he kept his kakugan activated, using his thumb to rub away the trail of blood which threatened to seep into the blond's eye. The crimson liquid smelled ridiculously sweet and impulsively, Kaneki brought his thumb to his lips. Closing his eyes, he took a languid lip, a shiver of pleasure creeping up his spine. Absolutely delicious. It was better than the fine fermented wine that Itori had dumped on him the first time he came to _Helter Skelter._

 _I want more. I need more—_

"Heh, do I really taste that good?" A weak voice pulled him from his blood-drunk reverie, stunning the white-haired youth into silence. No words could escape him as the human let out a groan of pain, a grimace replacing his once bright smile. Honey-colored eyes bored into his own, revealing that he'd seen the ghoul lap at his blood.

"Oww, that one guy really threw me like a rag-doll. I think I may have broken a rib." He commented more to himself than to the now mute ghoul. His plan of playing dead had worked well enough when the ethereal ghoul had shown up, and perhaps half-stupidity and half-intrigue had caused him to stop pretending and attempt a conversation with the man who had saved his life—well, there was still time for him to lose it and eat him, but he imagined that if he came all this way to scare the other two off, it'd be a waste if it were just to claim their meal as his own. Besides, no one would be so careful with their food if his attempt to lightly roll him onto his back proved anything.

Hide could tell that the ghoul was powerful—there was a rippling sense of electricity in the air that caused a light shiver to wrack his frame as he stared up into the boy's dark sclera. He was still terrified—it was the first time he had ever truly interacted with a ghoul (not counting his run-in with the two who just wanted to eat his insides). But, he could feel that the ghoul was holding back and that had to count for something.

"So, you've got a name? I'm Hideyoshi Nagachika. But my friends call me Hide. Thanks for not letting them eat me; I'm actually really stringy, you know. Not exactly the best meal for a ghoul, I'd imagine." He joked, hoping to rouse some reaction from the masked boy. His silence was scary—it was as if he were nothing but a ghost, a trail of smoke that could be blown away in an instant. If it weren't for the fact that the ghoul had stroked his cheek Hide would have wondered if he was hallucinating the entire thing.

"…Hide." Kaneki parroted back, still not believing the situation at hand. Since turning into a half-ghoul he had zero contact with humans. And now here he was, talking to an injured human he had saved not on a whim, but out of selfish hunger.

The guilt was clear in his eyes as his kakugan faded, returning his iris to a stormy grey color.

"Kaneki… my name is Kaneki." He mumbled back, folding his hands in his lap and tipping his head down.

 _How easily I forgot my own humanity… Pathetic._

Hide watched in awe at the change in color of the boy's visible eye, mouth agape. _So pretty… Ah, what's getting over me? Now's not the time to be gawking like a fool!_

"H-hey, Kaneki, don't worry 'bout it! I'm sure you're a good guy! Everyone gets hungry; it's just natural. And wow, me bleeding out here must not be easy for you to take and—whoa, hold on!" He let out a cry of surprise as Kaneki draped his arms around his shoulders, forcing the bureau investigator to hold on at an impromptu piggy-back ride.

"…You're hurt. I'll help you get home." Was all the ghoul said as he carried the blond, moving in the direction of the city.

The scent of sunflowers tickled his nose as he took a deep breath, calming himself. The warmth on his back was nice and from their position he could easily make out the gentle thump, thump of the boy's heart as blood drummed through his veins. It was comforting, in a way. Even after everything that had happened, from his surgery to being tortured by Jason, he had kept at least a shard of his humanity. All it took for him to realize this was a very, very talkative Dove.

"T-thanks… but I think I could have just walked—"

"No, you would've attracted more ghouls." Kaneki interrupted, taking the back alleys as to not rouse suspicion. He had unzipped the mouth part of his mask so his voice wouldn't be so muffled, but dared not to remove it entirely.

Hide was a member of the CCG, after all.

"..Say, Kaneki, I'm grateful and all, but you heard from the other ghouls, didn't you? I am a part of the CCG. I'm just a lackey, really, I don't even have a quinque, but…" He trailed off, unable to see the widening of the ghoul's visible eye. He felt the fingers around his ankles tighten briefly, but other than that, all the boy replied with was a sigh.

"I know."

 _That won't stop me from doing the right thing._

"Heh, a ghoul helping a human from the CCG… my superiors would have a fit if they knew—ah, don't worry though. I'm not gonna tell them; I wouldn't want to ruin our blossoming friendship~" The blond teased, happy to hear a light chuckle from the ghoul.

 _Ah, so he can laugh! There's hope yet!_

"You talk a lot for someone who was apparently thrown around like a rag-doll." Kaneki retorted as he carried the youth up the steps to his apartment. At the door, he helped Hide to the ground, immediately turning around to leave.

"W-wait a second, dude!" Hide called out, fishing his key from his front pocket.

Kaneki didn't turn around, but stilled in his movements, waiting patiently for the human to continue.

"If I left you a gift here, outside my door, would you accept it?"

The ghoul paused, suddenly unsure. _I've meddled enough. No need to drag another person into danger._ Yet, the word still passed his lips despite his inner mental protests. "…Sure."

The bureau investigator silently fist-pumped the air. "Awesome! What would you like?"

"…Coffee." With that Kaneki disappeared, plummeting from the 3rd floor balcony and onto the ground.

Looking over the railing, Hide could only shake his head and sigh as the dark figure retreated into the nearest poorly-lit alleyway. "Kaneki sure is weird… but that's okay, I guess. At least he didn't eat me!"

And all at once, the weight of his treason fell upon the blond's shoulders.

 _Oh shit—I'm gonna get arrested._

It was bad enough harboring a ghoul as a regular citizen, but being a CCG member? He wouldn't be surprised if they skipped his trial and made it a public execution.

In an attempt to distract himself by his possibly very imminent death sentence, the blond took to the kitchen, opening his refrigerator. Shuffling around, he found an unopened can of iced coffee—his favorite brand. Getting a sticky note, he scribbled a little doodle of the ghoul and a few gracious lines: ' _For Kaneki. Thanks again. I really owe you one. I have a spare key under the mat if you ever need a place to stay. You're more than welcome to stop by_.'

Leaving the gift outside his door, Hide sighed. If he was going to die, he was going to die in style. One of the first rules he had learned at the Academy was that a human should never under any circumstance trust a ghoul. They were keen manipulators and could easily fake human emotion; however, Hide was a great investigator (when he tried to be), and he could tell that the boy's reactions were genuine. Especially the look of guilt he had given him. It had been so _raw_ , as if the entire weight of the world rested on his shoulders. The blond wondered just what could have happened to make a person so young appear that broken.

 _Ah, no use dwelling on it. If Kaneki hadn't showed up I'd currently be digesting in some ghoul's stomach. Eww._

Shaking his head, Hide busied himself with a first-aid kit, applying bandages and ointment to the cuts and abrasions on his face.

* * *

It was later the next morning that Hide checked his email, brown eyes staring unbelievably at the contents of his superior's request.

Staring back at him was a blurry picture of the same white-haired ghoul with his mask on—Kaneki, he corrected in his head.

And after all the time he spent behind his desk at the office, he was finally getting a real job. His mission was to uncover the whereabouts and origin of 'Eyepatch', an SS~ ranked ghoul residing inside the 20th ward.

A sick feeling bloomed in the pit of his stomach. "Ughh, this sucks!"

* * *

a/n: this is probably the longest chapter I've ever written lol. any feedback would be lovely—you know we authors feed on reviews like ghouls feed on human flesh :3

also, in case you were wondering:

 _ghoul investigators_ are what Akira/Amon/Arima/etc. are. They can use quinques and went to the CCG Academy.

Hide in this story is a _bureau investigator_. Once completing training at the Ghoul Countermeasures Training Center, they become Rank 3's and generally are in charge of doing paperwork or being 'extra ghoul fodder' so to speak whenever big raids go down. They are not allowed to use quinques, but are given Q bullets in their weapons, which can hurt weak-leveled ghouls but nothing more. The reason Hide is given the job to search after Eyepatch (which would normally be reserved for a ghoul investigator) is bc all other investigators are predisposed w/ other cases and Hide scored so highly on his aptitude exam.

 _ **Review?**_

-isis


	2. Chapter 2- Man of Perdition

Chapter 2- Man of Perdition

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Kaneki has a strange dream that night.

He sees the blond again—Hide, amongst a field of sunflowers. His smile is bright and full of warmth as he stretches out a hand. Everything about him is warm, bringing about a pleasant lethargy which the half-ghoul basks in. For a moment, even in his dreams, he is no longer a monster. No longer is he straddled between two shifting worlds as if they are tectonic plates and he, a lone person stretched too thin above the hot coals and magma.

There is peace.

"Where are we, Hide?" He hears himself question, closing his eyes for a brief, brief moment.

The half-ghoul is met with silence. Slowly, his lids rise, and he realizes that he wasn't standing amongst a field of sunflowers—they were scattered bones instead. Yellowed from age, mouths agape, he sees a multitude of centipedes all crawling from their silent jowls.

Again, Kaneki had seen beauty in death. _Why?_ He questions, frantically pushing away skull after skull in an attempt to find even a hint of sunflowers in the field of dry bone—they were there, he had seen them! Even a withered petal, anything to quell the voices in his head.

 _[You will never find happiness because miracles do not happen for monsters.]_

"I don't believe it! Is it bad for us to want to live?!" He hears himself repeating the words that Touka had once spoke, words he had not understood so early in his life as a half-ghoul.

Fingers find purchase against the soil and as he bares his black nails against the dirt, something about the size of a pebble presses against his palm.

The voices stop. Cupping the object with trembling fingers, Kaneki breathes out a sigh of relief. It is a seed.

It is there that the dream ends and the white-haired boy is thrown into the gentle lull that only a dreamless sleep provides.

Kaneki often dreams of the bone field—this, however, was the first time he had found anything other than the whispers of Death. When he wakes the next morning the familiar sensation of déjà vu returns and with it, a dull throbbing behind his eyelids. It feels like he's experienced this pain once before, in a time where perhaps the sunshine boy is more familiar, a common thought and mantra in his head. The familiarity is there—that is why he can joke with the blond, something he could rarely do with even regular customers at Anteiku.

Perhaps they had met once before—in another life.

Kaneki sighs and shakes his head, cold hands brushing through the tangled mess of bed-head he has accumulated. Such beliefs were nothing but mere fairytales, superstitions that made death easier to handle.

It was impossible… like his dream told him. Miracles didn't happen for monsters. And there was no way this was a second chance at finding the same person again in a different universe. He was still the protagonist of tragedy; nothing had changed. He was just lonelier and emptier.

"What sort of do-over is this? It feels like my fate is cursed." The boy mutters to himself, slinking unhappily from his bed to begin another day.

Little does he know what sort of _fated_ coincidences were to guide him that day—and make it far from the regular (well, as regular as being a half-ghoul could be) day.

* * *

It is in the daylight that Kaneki realizes how close Hide's apartment complex is to Anteiku. In fact, he had crossed past the open field beside the building numerous times as a short cut from his own home. The night's events played through his head as, almost whimsically, the white-haired youth climbs up the metal stairs to reach the 3rd floor where Hide lived. Spotting the glint of metal in the sunlight, he makes sure no humans are around before walking towards his assumed gift.

 _Ah, I didn't think he'd actually do it._

As silent as possible, Kaneki bends down to pick up the can of coffee, fingers tightening around the familiar coffee brand. It's one of his favorite store-bought brands even if it's nothing like the coffee at Anteiku. A smile plays on his lips at the sight of the crudely drawn caricature of himself—with the mask on, of course. He reads the words, imagining them in Hide's voice before stuffing the note into his pocket.

 _Thanks, Hide…_

And so the half-ghoul continues onward, walking the deserted streets to the coffee shop which became his home. He had taken the early morning weekend shift to free Touka up for her exams; the dark-haired woman had gotten into Kamii with dedication and hard-work and sat on her 2nd semester with relatively good grades.

Kaneki's lips lifted upwards at the thought. He was glad that Nishiki and Touka had managed to keep up with their studies and their work at Anteiku.

 _For me… Anteiku is a distraction. It eats up hours of my day so I do not have to spend them questioning my own morals—and, of course, allows me some semblance of a regular life. I have a schedule now… almost reminds me of when I was human—_

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as the familiar form of the café becomes clearer. He sees young Hinami already at work, dusting off the leftover chalk from the day before, her elegant fingers perched against her chin as she eyes the board and begins to write anew.

Kaneki shakes his head; she's no longer the little girl who was afraid of strangers and clung behind her mother's legs. She's much stronger now—taller, no longer seemingly weighed down by a lead-like gravity that once caused her back to bow. She stands straighter in the morning light, flicking back her short auburn locks. She admires her handiwork, appreciative of the sloping cursive which makes out the coffee shop's name: _Anteiku._

"Hinami-chan, good morning." The half-ghoul calls out, giving a soft smile.

Immediately, the girl turns around, a wide grin crossing her features. "Kaneki! Good morning! Would you like some coffee? Yoshimura-san just got a new delivery of beans…"

"I'm alright, thanks. Is it just us at the café today?"

The brunette nods. "Yeah… but Saturday mornings are pretty quiet. No one wakes up this early on the weekend."

The pair devolves into a pleasant silence as they walk up the brick steps and into the shop. The bell tinkers upon their arrival and already, Kaneki can hear the gentle whirl of the coffee machines. The warm scent of blended coffee beans drifts through the sun-soaked room—it was one of the few times that the white-haired boy pulled up the blinds completely, allowing in the natural light.

A brief memory flashes before his eyes—when he had first stumbled upon Anteiku back when he was much too human, much too naïve to worry about the dangers of ghouls. He had sat right by the windows with a cup of coffee to his right and a good book in his lap. He had whittled away hours in the pleasant atmosphere of the shop, unaware of the monster which lurked only tables away.

 _[And now you've become just as hideous—how pathetic.]_

"Kaneki? Are you okay? You spaced out for a bit." A worried voice pierced his conscience as he turned to Hinami, giving a grin and a laugh. His left hand scratches his chin as he speaks, "I'm alright. Just… reminiscing, you could say. I'm going to go change into my uniform."

Disappearing into the backroom, he does not see the flash of grief which contorts the teen's face.

"You don't have to lie to me…" She murmurs out loud, ponderings interrupted by the shrill ring of the bell and the scent of a human.

There is a familiar thud of a briefcase.

* * *

 _Ah, Saturday mornings…_

The canaries chirped pleasantly by his windowsill, the sun shone through the flakes of winter which fell ever so often from the evergreens, and even his landlady, a plump woman whom Hide had only met a handful of times, had not argued with him when he explained that his next paycheck wouldn't be coming in till next week.

It would have been a great morning, if he wasn't expected to damn the ghoul who had so selflessly defended him last night.

The guilt was there as he lay amongst the scattered files which depicted sightings of the white-haired mystery boy.

"Geez, you don't travel around too much do you, Kaneki? If you are trying to hide the fact that your home ward is the 20th you aren't doing a great job." He spoke to himself, giving a dejected laugh.

The blond allowed for the paper to slip from his hands as he rested against the couch, wondering briefly if the ghoul had accepted his gift or not. In a fit of annoyance, he threw the nearest empty coffee can towards the trash bin—

Unfortunately, he had never been too good of a shot. It hit the wall beside the wire basket, rolling on the wooden floor with an audible pop. For some reason, the idea that Kaneki could have lied about receiving the gift bothered him. He didn't want to think about what it meant if he could so easily lie to his face.

"Aghh, it's already 8:00am, I might as well check." He mused to himself, walking over to the door after depositing the coffee can accordingly.

Throwing his hand on the door, he gave the knob a quick shove, looking down expectantly at the hallway. The drink was gone.

Hide couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped his lips. "Ah, I hope he likes it…"

* * *

A choked gasp fell from his lips as he was thrown into the brick wall, bones popping with an audible snap. Dizzy, the white-haired ghoul took in a ragged breath, snowflakes melting against his cheek.

The investigator was relentless. His silent demeanor only solidified his resolve, dark eyes emotionless in their careful observation of his opponent's beaten appearance.

"It's like the other investigators said… he really won't kill humans." Take Hirako noted, the lance-like quinque gripped tightly in his hands. He did not pause but rather shot forward, a smooth arc aimed just at the half-ghoul's neck.

Sliding against the wall, the weapon made contact with a few stray white locks but missed its assumed target completely. It was with this minute error that Kaneki swept a foot across the ground, aiming to take out the investigator's ankle.

It was successful—but also landed the boy with a metal lance through his left abdomen. Choking up blood, he watched as the Dove fell to the ground, relatively unhurt. His hands had left the quinque due to surprise and it fell from the boy's stomach to roll across the alleyway, stopping just below the tepid light of a flickering street lamp.

Taking in a sharp gasp, the half-ghoul's vision blurred as the demons inside him raged, pulsing in a steady rhythm against the bone arena of his skull. It throbbed with screams and pleas for human flesh even while he rose on shaking legs, feeling the thread-bare beginnings of healing the wound. It had already clotted and, with fingers pressed against the gaping hole, Kaneki dragged himself away with a surprising amount of speed, using his kagune to whip the ghoul investigator's weapon into the air and meters away from him.

 _[I've got to get back… get back to Anteiku—no, that would endanger Hinami.]_

Trudging through the heavy snow, the half-ghoul disappeared through the maze of alleys that made up the more urban streets of the 20th ward at a quick enough pace that the rather emotionless investigator did not give chase.

As Kaneki traversed the winding streets, his feet guided him somewhere familiar, a place where the scent of sunflowers was strong.

Hirako got out his phone, pushing a single button. "Arima-san… I had a run-in with Eyepatch. He escaped." A pause. "My apologies. I'll talk to Nagachika-san. Eyepatch is definitely still active."

* * *

After spending the majority of his Saturday cooped inside his home, pouring over the case files, Hideyoshi Nagachika scratched his head, reclining in the sofa with a sigh. No longer could he bother with reading file after file—it was all filled with the same pointless dribble about how 'dangerous' and 'lethal' the white-haired ghoul was.

Oh, Hide knew that Kaneki was dangerous; that wasn't what irked him. It was the way in which how impersonal the documents were, as if they merely took physical observations, never once treading into the mind of the ghoul who also rescued humans and had never been linked to the cause of death in a human. No, he cannibalized because he didn't want to hurt humans, Hide had surmised rather easily.

While the case files assumed it was to gain strength and to scare other ghouls around him, it was obvious that they were written by investigators who held the utmost animosity for ghouls.

Still, there was one missing link that had caused quite a hindrance for Hide. In the case files, there had been a report of a missing college student—a Kaneki Ken that fit the time frame for around the time Eyepatch had first been spotted in the 20th ward. He had seen his file and while he could surmise that there was a resemblance between Eyepatch and the student, it was still a rough connection at best given the lack of concrete evidence.

Oh, Hide was sure that Kaneki Ken was Eyepatch; the ghoul had given him the same surname and it wasn't exactly common. No, the real question laid not with why the ghoul would have been so honest, but why he'd been so kind. All signs pointed to the boy being human up until a murky incident involving a steel beam incident—so, was it really possible for a human to become a ghoul? Was it his choice? Such questions swirled despairingly in his head as he slouched in the sofa, giving a tired sigh.

This case was gonna be the death of him.

Just before he could continue to ponder the intricacies of Kaneki's existence as a mediator between ghouls and humans, the bureau investigator heard a series of loud thuds coming from his front door, as if someone were trying to break in.

Startled, the investigator took the nearest 'weapon' he had, which, unfortunately, was a greasy frying pan from the sink. It wasn't his fault that he had just eaten dinner! Regardless, it was all he had and the blond could only wonder if perhaps one of Kaneki's friends had deemed him too much of a threat and had come by for a little snack—or worse, it was Kaneki himself. The idea of it being just a regular burglar was a bit too plain for the boy; better to die in a haze of bullets then in his sleep, he had always thought to himself. He had always been drawn to theatrics…

"Alright whoever you are! I'll give you ten seconds to leave, otherwise you're gonna have to deal with ghoul investigator Hideyoshi Nagachika!" He bellowed out, reaching for the door knob.

Swiftly, he opened the door, the frying pan clattering from his hands. "K-kaneki?"

With heavy breaths Kaneki turned his head upwards, crouched against the floor with a hand pressed against the wound in his stomach. "H-help… I—" He began to cough violently, spitting up blood as violent tremors wracked his injured body.

A lethargy creeped into his bones when he attempted to grip Hide's wrist. "I-I couldn't go… anywhere else. An investigator… found me. He c-can't find Anteiku." His vision blurred as he fell forward into the blond's embrace.

"H-hey, wait a second. What's Anteiku? Kaneki? Come on man, wake up!" Hide panicked, pulling the unconscious ghoul into his apartment.

There was no response from the boy—only the feeling of his warm breaths against his skin. Gingerly, he ran a worried hand against the cut in his abdomen, noting with relief that the blood was dry. A good sign; he wouldn't have to worry about the white-haired ghoul bleeding out on him. Maneuvering so he held the unconscious youth bridal style, he soon walked over to his couch.

"Ah, you're kinda heavy, you know. But I guess this makes us even. Just don't eat me in your sleep, alright? I'm gonna lay you on the couch and tend to your wound but you've got a lot of explaining to do when you wake up." It had meant to be a joke, but the fear was there.

 _[Regardless of how I feel… this is a ghoul. Kaneki may have saved my life, but my duty as an investigator…]_

The blond shook his head at the thought, slapping himself in the forehead at the notion of betrayal.

[Idiot! You owe him one. Besides, he's out cold. I think I could dangle a severed limb in front of him and he wouldn't move an inch.]

Just as he rose to get the first-aid kit in his bathroom, the phone in his pocket gave a familiar buzz.

 _[Oh no!]_

"Hello?" The boy said with chipper in his voice. It was easy for him to slip on a mask of carefree happiness- it was the mask he used the most often, after all.

"Nagachika-san. It's Hirako. I ran into Eyepatch. I'm coming over now."

The call ended before the blond could even respond. Gaze turning to the ghoul currently on his couch, Hide sighed loudly.

"You are seriously gonna get me in trouble, Kaneki. What am I going to do?" His eyes turned to his own bedroom, an idea flickering in his mind.

"Don't worry dude, I won't let Hirako-san won't know you're here. Though, I imagine he's the reason you're so banged up. Sorry, man. I'll trip him on his way out or something."

And so, the investigator began his plan, picking up the ghoul and carrying him to his messy tangle of bedcovers and sheets which made up his bed. His hold was soft and gentle as he laid him down, pulling the covers up to his chin. Hide had a sudden urge to ruffle the boy's hair and did so accordingly, enjoying the softness of Kaneki's white locks before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him.

The ghoul stirred for a brief moment, but did not wake. Only a dreamless sleep awaited him, totally unaware of the danger that was encroaching only a doorway's length away.

 _[Better to be blissfully ignorant, it seemed.]_

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a/n: eyyy thank u guys so much for the support! i'm sorry this took so long but really, every comment and favorite/follow means a lot and helps me stay motivated. I apologize for leaving this on a bit of a cliffhanger but hopefully the next chap will come sooner this time ^^' as usual, i just wanna hug all of you who have been so kind! i'm seriously at a loss as i didn't expect for this story to get this much traffic. i'm glad we're all hidekane trash, hehe :P

 ** _Review?_**

-isis


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